Sheriff O'Flynn seeks $37,000 raise

For the second time in three years, Monroe County Democrats are fuming over a proposed pay raise for Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn.

O'Flynn is seeking a 27 percent or $37,000 increase — pushing his salary to $174,000. The raise is part of County Executive Maggie Brooks' proposed 2014 budget, released earlier this month.

"This gentlemen just ran for sheriff, and at no time during his campaign did he say, 'You know, you really don't pay me enough,' " said Legislator Michael Patterson, a Democrat whose district runs along either side of Norton Street in the city. "It's mind-boggling. ... In the district I represent, we have families that make significantly less than $37,000 a year."

A spokesman for Brooks referred questions to O'Flynn, saying that the raise was submitted at his request. O'Flynn's spokesman Cpl. John Helfer said in an email Tuesday: "The Sheriff will be present at the Ways and Means committee meeting next Thursday, which is open to the public. At that time he will be able to address any questions from legislators."

O'Flynn and other elected officials' pay had gone years without an increase. Then in December 2011, a party-line vote established the sheriff's salary "at the same amount as the district attorney's salary." The district attorney's salary is set and paid for by the state.

Republican officials later said the intent was not to match both in perpetuity but just for that point in time.

"I think the county budget is broken out by elected official for a reason," Brooks spokesman Justin Feasel said when asked whether she supported the proposed pay increase.

Pressed on what warranted such a pay increase, Feasel said those were questions for O'Flynn.

"Ultimately, this is a budgetary process," Feasel said. "The legislature will weigh in on it. She included it at the request of the sheriff. ... I would say he is responsible for his budget."

The job of sheriff already pays better in Monroe County than in most other jurisdictions across New York state, with a salary far outpacing those budgeted or proposed in Erie, Onondaga and Albany counties. Albany, for instance, pays its sheriff $114,361.

If lawmakers approve the current proposal, O'Flynn would see his pay increase a combined 41 percent since 2011. Other than the district attorney, all other elected officials' pay in Monroe County government have remained unchanged going back at least to 2005. That includes the county executive's salary, which remains a steady $120,000.

Democrats want O'Flynn to appear before the Legislature's Ways and Means Committee next week to explain the salary proposal.

"We are not happy about it, but we are trying to be reasonable," Patterson said. "If he can come forward and state a case for why he needs a $37,000 pay raise, I'm still not really going to buy it — but I want to hear it, at least."